Turkey on Tuesday marked the 82nd anniversary of the demise of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the country's war of independence and founder of the Turkish Republic.  As is customary, daily life stopped at 9.05 a.m. local time (0605GMT), sirens wailed to mark the exact moment of...

On November 4, local news outlets reported that the Syrian government had released over 60 individuals from detention facilities in southern Syria and Damascus. While not the first such release, the news is a positive development in an area where little to no progress has occurred. But it is...

Under the elegant arches and domes of an Ottoman-era compound, Joseph Tobjian displays his aromatic Aleppo soap at a trade fair designed to revive Syria's exports-starved arts and crafts. The soap maker is among more than 130 merchants taking part in the state-sponsored fair in Damascus for...

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said billions of dollars of deposits held by his countrymen in Lebanon's financial sector that were blocked after a major financial crisis were a main cause of Syria's deepening economic crisis. Lebanese banks, fearing capital flight and grappling with an...